Allocate Tk 1,000cr in budget for e-commerce

e-CAB leaders demand

Shomi Kaiser, president of the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB), and Abdul Wahed Tomal, general secretary, attend a press conference at the National Press Club in Dhaka yesterday. Photo: e-CAB

Star Business Report

The e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) yesterday urged the government to allocate Tk 1,000 crore in the upcoming national budget for e-commerce, mainly for training and credit purposes, so that the sector could flourish.

At a press conference at the National Press Club, e-CAB General Secretary Abdul Wahed Tomal said they would place their demand before the finance minister for consideration.

“Without training none can do better business through online platforms and that's why we already started different training sessions, which needs to accelerate,” he said.

At the same time, small entrepreneurs demand credit facilities which the traditional banks will never provide in the way it was required, he added.

The leaders of the e-CAB said the country's digital infrastructures have developed in a huge way but online commerce has not flourished and the number of customers was very low.

Tomal said still people could not keep confidence on e-commerce and sometimes different entities could not sustain business for growing losses.

“Here we need training for the entrepreneurs to make them prepared for the coming days,” he said.

Tomal quoted global reports as saying that 70 percent of business across the globe would be conducted online by 2025.

The whole ecosystem will change within the next five years and the new generation cannot survive if they fail to stay in sync with it. That is why the initiative has been taken in line with the government aim, says the association.

The e-CAB also urged the government to declare e-commerce and online shopping as information technology enabled services, which would help the industry avail some tax benefits.

Shomi Kaiser, the association's president, thanked the government for taking up a digital commerce policy.